A conventional ratchet wrench with a rotating disc is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown, an enclosed box portion 101 is provided at one end of a handle 10. A ratchet device 11 is provided in the box portion 101. The ratchet device 11 comprises a bar 111 extended downwardly, a top rotating disc 112, and a ratchet wheel 113 provided between the bar 111 and the rotating disc 112. A cavity 102 is provided at an edge of the box portion 101 and in communication therewith. A locking member 12 having a ratchet side is provided in the cavity 102. A spring biased rod 13 at one side opposite the ratchet side of the locking member 12 and a direction switch 14 projected from the box portion 101 are adapted to control the pivoting of the locking member 12 for switching a direction of force exerted upon a workpiece by the handle 10. As shown in FIG. 2 specifically, after loosening a workpiece by turning the handle 10, a user may turn the rotating disc 112 to rotate the bar 111 for removing the workpiece rather than turning the handle 10 clockwise and counterclockwise alternately. This is the function of the rotating disc 112. However, the ratchet wrench is bulky due to the provision of the direction control means at one side of the ratchet device 11.
Another conventional ratchet wrench with a rotating disc having reduced size as an improvement of the above wrench is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. As shown, an enclosed box portion 201 having a ratchet 202 around its interior surface is provided at one end of a handle 20. A ratchet device 21 is provided in the box portion 201. The ratchet device 21 comprises a bar 211 extended downwardly, a top rotating disc 212, a recess 213 provided between the bar 211 and the rotating disc 212. A locking member 22 having two ratchet sides is pivotably provided in the recess 213 by a vertical pin 25 inserted through the rotating disc 212 and the locking member 22 into a bottom of the recess 213. A spring biased rod 23 and a direction switch 24 projected from the box portion 201 are adapted to control the pivoting of the locking member 22 for switching a direction of force exerted upon a workpiece by the handle 20. As shown in FIG. 4 specifically, the right ratchet 222 of the locking member 22 is biased by the rod 23 to project to matingly engage with the ratchet 202 and the left ratchet 221 thereof is biased against a wall of the recess 213 when loosening a workpiece by counterclockwise turning the handle 20. That is, there is no space available for turning the ratchet device 21 counterclockwise. As shown in FIG. 5 specifically, after the workpiece has been loosened, the handle 20 is motionless. The right ratchet 222 of the locking member 22 is urged by the ratchet 202 to retract when the rotating disc 212 turns counterclockwise. As such, a user may rotate the rotating disc 212 counterclockwise to quickly remove the workpiece. As shown in FIG. 6 specifically, for switching force exerted upon the workpiece it is required to turn the direction switch 24 counterclockwise for projecting the left ratchet 221 of the locking member 22 to matingly engage with the ratchet 202. The counterclockwise rotation of the switch 24 is the same as that of the ratchet device 21. However, such counterclockwise rotation of the switch 24 for overcoming the elastic force of the rod 23 may also rotate the ratchet device 21. As a result, the desired direction switch is not possible. For solving this problem, the user has to use the other hand to hold the rotating disc 212 or the bar 211 for fixing the ratchet device 21 to prevent its rotation when turning the switch 24 counterclockwise. As an end, the purpose of turning the switch 24 and the ratchet device 21 in the same direction for direction switch can be achieved. However, such ratchet wrench also has the problem of inconvenience in use despite its reduced size. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.